VivaLasViejas ASN, RN

LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych

Once a nurse, always a nurse!

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide

All Content by VivaLasViejas

  1. VivaLasViejas

    I have returned from the beach............

    VivaLasViejas replied to SmilingBluEyes's topic in Ob/Gyn

    Deb, I'm glad you're back, but I also know you needed that vacation like you need air to breathe.........I'm so happy you got away and had a good
  2. VivaLasViejas

    Soooo, I think I may have a new job lined up...

    VivaLasViejas replied to raindrop's topic in First Year After Licensure

    Do NOT---however tempting it may be to do so---burn your bridges when you leave a job. You never know whether you'll need these people again, or if you'll end up working with one or more of them...
  3. VivaLasViejas

    Do You See Yourself Making It To Retirement in Nursing?

    VivaLasViejas replied to stlnurse's topic in General Nursing

    You've got a point
  4. VivaLasViejas

    Do You See Yourself Making It To Retirement in Nursing?

    VivaLasViejas replied to stlnurse's topic in General Nursing

    Retirement?? Who's going to be able to afford to retire? I got started way too late (38) so I don't think I'll ever completely stop working......however, I won't be doing it in Med/Surg! The sheer...
  5. VivaLasViejas

    When a baby is born....what does your hospital do?

    VivaLasViejas replied to DutchgirlRN's topic in Ob/Gyn

    My hospital plays about 20 seconds of "Brahm's Lullaby" whenever a baby is born. I remember when they started doing this, it was about 3 months before my grandson was born. Naturally, I couldn't wait...
  6. VivaLasViejas

    Removed my mom from life support. Need opinion/reasurance.

    VivaLasViejas replied to JennieIrene's topic in General Nursing

    I really can't add much to the beautiful sentiments already expressed here. Just know that God made His decision long before you even became involved and knows your heart was in the right place. And...
  7. VivaLasViejas

    Running About a Quart Low on Compassion?

    VivaLasViejas posted a topic in General Nursing

    I must be getting old, jaded, cranky, or all three........... Last night, ten minutes before shift change, this patient (one of my all-time favorites, the middle-aged female with abdominal pain that...
  8. VivaLasViejas

    Running About a Quart Low on Compassion?

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    Thank you, one and all! I felt better about the situation today when I came in to work and found out from this pt's nurse that she had not only stayed in the hospital, but had been quite subdued...
  9. VivaLasViejas

    The Nightshift Funk

    VivaLasViejas replied to HillNPStudent's topic in First Year After Licensure

    I think a lot depends on how your body is hard-wired.........some people thrive on nights, and others are the early-to-bed-early-to-rise types. (I'm in the middle---I hate early mornings with a purple...
  10. VivaLasViejas

    Do you feel valued in your current nursing position?

    VivaLasViejas replied to Brian's topic in General Nursing

    Exactly!! :roll Actually, my department manager/DON and most of the house supervisors are wonderful.........it's this one assistant manager who also does charge, but won't help out on the floor when...
  11. VivaLasViejas

    Non-viable baby, born alive -parent won't hold him, what do you do?

    VivaLasViejas replied to enfermeraSG's topic in Ob/Gyn

    Please, let's look at this from a parent's point of view and not be quite so judgmental about "not wanting" the baby. I was a 25-year-old emotional train wreck when my full-term, 6-pound 9-oz....
  12. VivaLasViejas

    I really need to talk about this! (long)

    VivaLasViejas replied to NurseforPreggers's topic in Ob/Gyn

    You did a magnificent job of advocating for your patient. :) That is exactly what you are SUPPOSED to do. Placating the physician and making sure she gets her beauty sleep on the nights she's on call...
  13. VivaLasViejas

    You are probably a med-surg nurse if.....

    VivaLasViejas replied to DutchgirlRN's topic in Medical-Surgical

    You know you're a med/surg nurse if a river of runny poo reminds you to pick up brownie mix at the store on the way home.
  14. VivaLasViejas

    What do you do for YOU every day, to keep sane..

    VivaLasViejas replied to JoBug's topic in General Nursing

    One of the things I do to stay sane is to never, ever start a shift without first talking it over with the Lord. I'm not conventionally 'religious', but I am a spiritual person, and I find this helps...
  15. VivaLasViejas

    Nurse on Survivor

    VivaLasViejas replied to rogramjet's topic in General Nursing

    "Survivor" is one of my few guilty pleasures too. :) A co-worker got me hooked on it midway through the first season, and I've watched every single episode (had to have dh tape it for me back when I...
  16. VivaLasViejas

    We need a Nursing TV show

    VivaLasViejas replied to jbeck817's topic in General Nursing

    A TV show about med/surg nurses would be great!! Only trouble is, nobody who ISN'T a nurse would believe it. I mean, you can't make this stuff up: the dementia patient who rips out his roommate's...
  17. VivaLasViejas

    Difference Between a New Nurse and an Old Nurse

    VivaLasViejas replied to DutchgirlRN's topic in Nursing Humor

    The new nurse wears T-shirts and carries a bag with "RN" printed all over them. The used nurse doesn't want the public to know she's a nurse so that she doesn't have to perform CPR on her day off, or...
  18. VivaLasViejas

    Transverse presentation - not vertex!

    VivaLasViejas replied to RaeT,RN's topic in Ob/Gyn

    My dd was one week overdue when she and her OB decided to go with a C-section due to suspected macrosomia and CPD. Turned out my grandson was transverse.........thank goodness she didn't have to go...
  19. VivaLasViejas

    Fear Factor, Nurse Style, Five Stunts... lol

    VivaLasViejas replied to NurCrystal22's topic in Nursing Humor

    I was fine until you came up with this one!! Now I'm gonna for sure.......I HATE
  20. VivaLasViejas

    I am very embarrassed... my work day yesterday.

    VivaLasViejas replied to perfectbluebuildings's topic in First Year After Licensure

    Dear Rayrae...........how to convince you that you have to be a little easier on yourself?? First and foremost, STOP COMPARING YOURSELF WITH OTHERS. It does no one any good, and it doesn't prove...
  21. VivaLasViejas

    Meds. off floor taste YUMMY!

    VivaLasViejas replied to NurCrystal22's topic in General Nursing

    I'm another one of those who was not blessed with a great deal of grace, and those horrid individual blister packets are the bane of my existence as a nurse. Obviously, a lot of pills squirt across...
  22. VivaLasViejas

    Options for childcare when mandated

    VivaLasViejas replied to shel_wny's topic in General Nursing

    Who's talking about $200,000 houses and three boats? Unless a family's main breadwinner earns at least $40-$50,000 a year, a second income is mandatory in most parts of the country, and that includes...
  23. VivaLasViejas

    curious on pay and cost of living in oregon

    VivaLasViejas replied to melkel619's topic in Oregon Nursing

    I work at a community hospital in the mid-Willamette Valley, where surgical techs are unionized and thus make a fairly decent wage (upwards of $13 an hour, I think). Rents in this part of the state...
  24. VivaLasViejas

    Hydrops Gallbladder?

    VivaLasViejas posted a topic in General Nursing

    I just found out that one of the problems with my late unlamented gallbladder was a condition called "Hydrops gallbladder". I've been a nurse for quite a while, but I've never heard of this...
  25. VivaLasViejas

    Hydrops Gallbladder?

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    Trust me, you don't want to wait!! My GB was basically dead, and the surgeon told dh that it was a good thing she got it out before it became necrotic and brought on a nice raging case of peritonitis....